Definition

1. Verb phrase (động từ): - To ruin one's fortune; to squander one's wealth: To recklessly spend or destroy one's own property, assets, or inheritance, leading to financial loss or ruin. This implies a wasteful or destructive action by the owner.

Usage Examples

• Verb phrase:
  • Anh ta cờ bạc liên tục và cuối cùng đã phá của gia đình. (He gambled continuously and ultimately ruined his family's fortune.)
  • Đừng có phá của mà bố mẹ để lại cho. (Don't squander the wealth your parents left for you.)
  • Công ty đó phá sản vì con trai chủ tịch chỉ biết phá của. (That company went bankrupt because the chairman's son only knew how to ruin the fortune.)

Advanced Usage

• The phrase often carries a strong negative moral judgment, criticizing not just the financial loss but the character of the person wasting an inheritance or hard-earned assets.
• It is typically used for significant wealth or property (a family business, land, a large inheritance) rather than small amounts of money.

Variants and Related Words

• Phá sản (v/n): To go bankrupt; bankruptcy. This is a more formal and legal term for financial collapse.
• Tiêu pha hoang phí (v): To spend lavishly and wastefully. This focuses more on the spending action than the resulting ruin.
• Lãng phí (v): To waste. A more general term for wasting resources, time, or money.

Synonyms

• Squander: To waste (money, time, opportunity) in a reckless or foolish manner.
• Dilapidate (one's fortune): To cause (a fortune) to decay or be ruined through neglect or misuse. (This is a direct translation from the Vietnamese-French reference.)
• Dissipate (wealth): To scatter or fritter away one's wealth.

Related Idioms/Phrases

• Ăn chơi phá của: To indulge in revelry and ruin one's fortune. This idiom combines "phá của" with "ăn chơi" (to party, to live a hedonistic lifestyle), painting a vivid picture of destructive extravagance.
  • Cậu ấy suốt ngày ăn chơi phá của, chẳng lo làm ăn gì cả. (He spends all his time partying and squandering the family wealth, with no thought for work or business.)

1. Ruin one's fortune